“I
definitely feel like I want to do well for so many people,” Patrick
said Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “I think that I gave
myself maybe a little bit of false expectation about running this
year for the (Nationwide) championship and probably using those words
‘for the championship.’
“It’s my
first-ever full year, and what I’ve done still doesn’t add up to
one year, and I didn’t have anything before that at all in stock
cars.”
After getting
involved in three wrecks at Speedweeks – in a qualifying race, the
Nationwide race and Daytona 500 – Patrick ran just the Nationwide
event at Phoenix. But 30 laps in the race, she was a lap down. She
finished three laps down and declined all media interviews after the
race.
Two races into the
2012 Nationwide season, Patrick is 21st
in series points. In the offseason, she repeatedly said she believed
she and her No. 7 JR Motorsports team could be contenders for the
championship.
Patrick is also
running 10 cup races this season.
“I
think I need to remind myself every now and again of really where the
expectation level should be, and where mine should be,” she said.
“And I can’t let all of the exposure and hype and hope – I'm
serious when I say ‘hope’ - I can’t let that be something that
makes me feel like I have to do well.”
